The Truth: Peeta and Gale's Story
by FanOfTheGames
Summary: Basically, it's if Peeta and Gale lived in the day we live in. So far it's a One Shot but I'm thinking about continuing off of this. Tell me what you think:)


"Take his coat!" I hear one of the boys say.

"Push him down the hill, too!" I hear another one say.

"Wait, one more thing," one of them says. Then he lifts me off of the ground by my shirt and punches me several times in the face until I see blood in the snow. Then I'm pushed down the hill and hear laughter as I hear them start their cars and leave.

I sit up and wipe the blood from my face and sit in the snow for a while until I hear:

"Here, take my coat."

I shiver and look up. Gale is looking at me with his coat in his extended hand.

"Please, take it."

I take his coat. Why does he want to help me? He hates me. He doesn't like me.

"Listen, Peeta, I'm sorry about what happened. I- I didn't know they were going to do what they did."

"What makes you think that anything they've ever done to me has been okay?"

"I-I-I meant-"

"I know what you meant. I don't want to hear it."

"Please, Peeta, I really am sorry. If I could take back what they did, I would."

"Leave me alone, Gale."

I stand up and throw Gale's coat back to him and walk away. I pass a few spots where my bloody lip dripped in the snow.

"Peeta, please!" I hear Gale yell as he chases after me.

"What, Gale? What do you want? You've already humiliated me almost my entire high school life. I'm tired of-"

He cuts me off and hugs me.

"Please, please, please believe me. I truly am sorry."

I stand there and accept his hug until he lets go. Then I cry.

"Please tell me why," I say as a tear runs down my cheek.

"Tell you what?"

"Why you hate me. Why it's me you always go after."

"I don't hate you, Peeta."

"Then why do you and your friends always beat me up at school?"

"Because—"

"Because what?"

"Well, I know why the other guys beat you up if you would like to-"

"Just answer my question!"

"Because I like you! Okay? Is that what you wanted to hear?"

I'm silent. I didn't know he was gay. He has always dated the prettiest girls in school. And his friends have always beaten me up because I was a gay, and I assumed that was the reason he was beating me up. I just wanted to hear him say it.

"Peeta, please say something."

"I, um, I..."

"See, this is why I didn't want to tell you. Because then you'd be all weirded out."

His eyes fill up with water.

"I'm sorry, Peeta. I, uh, I got to go."

He gives me a one hand wave goodbye then puts his hands inside of his grey pea coat and walks away.

I sigh.

"Gale."

He stops and turns.

"I, um, I like you too."

"No you don't. You're just lying to me."

"No I'm not."

"Yes, you are. You're making fun of me."

"God damn it, Gale! I seriously like you! I've liked you since the 8th grade! I always thought you were cute and funny and athletic. Then I came out and you and your baseball buddies started beating me up. After that, I didn't want to like you anymore. But somehow, I couldn't stop."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

I give him a smile.

"It's okay," I mumble.

"Wait, what? What's okay?"

"You were apologizing earlier about what your friends had done to me, and I'm saying that it's okay. I accept your apology."

He flashes me a smile.

"Thank you, Peeta."

I shiver and rub my hands together to try and beat the cold.

"So how did you know I was out here?"

"Justin tweeted about it and the location was tagged with it. So I drove out to see if you needed help."

"You can tag wilderness in tweets?"

"Well, not necessarily 'tagged' but it did say it was here."

"Oh," is the only thing I can say.

"Here, take my coat."

This time I accept it and put it on.

"What about you? Aren't you cold?"

"Um, not really."

I smile and put my hands in the pockets of his coat and feel something. I pull it out. A scarf.

"Here, put this on," I say and hand him his red and blue scarf.

We stand there quiet for a while.

"So, uh, my car is just over the hill if you wanted to sit down and get warm. And I could bring you home if you want."

"Yeah sure, it'd be nice to talk," I say as I smile.

"Cool," he says with a grin.

I smile and begin my walk through the snow. Then Gale catches up with my speed and walks beside me then takes my hand in his. At first I hesitate, but then I just let it happen and smile at him. His hand is soft and is still a little warm from his coat pockets. They're quite muscular and are a bit bigger than mine which somehow makes me feel secure.

"You don't mind me holding your hand do you?" he asks shyly.

"N-No. I, uh, kind of like it. They're warm and comforting."

I think he likes hearing me say that because he grips my hand a little bit tighter after that.

"Well, this is it," he says as we approach a black Ford pick-up truck. He walks over to the passenger side, still gripping my hand, and opens the door for me to get in then closes the door behind me then walks over to the driver's side and gets in. He rubs his hands together and puts the key in the ignition and turns on the heater and smiles. I smile too and let the warm air from the vents hit me.

"I don't think I ever had the chance to thank you for helping me out. You really didn't need to do that. Oh and here's your coat back," I say as I take the coat of and hand it to him. "It really is a nice coat."

"Thanks, but put it back on, you still look cold," he says with a smile.

"Oh, no, its okay, the vent is starting to warm me up."

"Oh, uh, okay," he says and slowly takes his coat from me, letting his warm hand touch mine.

"So, does anyone else know that you're gay?" I ask him.

"Um, no, just you."

I smile and nod.

"Well, if you ever need anything, I owe you big time."

"Thanks, but its fine, you don't owe me anything in return."

He then reaches over and grabs a hold to my hand.

"I really do like you, Peeta."

"And I told you that I really like you too."

"Yes, you did, and I was wondering if you'd go on a date with me, maybe a movie or dinner or-"

"Yes. I'd love to."

"Really? That's great! What would you like to do?"

"How about a movie? I've been wanting to see Django."

"Yeah, I heard it was a good one. When are you available?"

"Whenever you are."

"What about right now?"

"Um, yeah, sure. Let's go."

He smiles at me then what seems like he studies my face up and down and his smile turns to a frown.

"Your lip," he says and touches my face.

"Oh, uh, it's nothing, probably just dried blood."

"Let me look at it. My dad's a doctor and has taught me a thing or two."

He turns on the light from the roof of the truck and studies my lip. Then he reaches over my lap to the glove department and pulls out a tissue and wipes away the dried blood.

"It's just a cut," he says. "It'll be fine within a few days."

I smile. "Thanks for looking at it, I really appreciate it."

He laughs. "It's no problem."

I smile and giggle then look into his grey eyes. That had to be one of the things that won me over in 8th grade. Then he picks his hand up and softly strokes my cheek.

"You're very cute, Peeta."

I blush and smile and try to look out the window to hide it.

"Why do you try to hide your smile? It's a beautiful smile and I like to see it."

I turn back to face him and show my smile while he continues to stroke my cheek. Then he slowly leaned in testing my limits to see if I'd stop him, but I didn't want him to. He kept going until his lips met mine and he softly kissed me.

"Oh, um, I'm sorry. I was just caught up in the moment and I just thought-"

I pull him in and kiss him again.

"So I take that you like it?" he asks.

I giggle. "Yes, I did."

"So... Should we start heading to the movies?"

"Oh yeah, let's go," I say as I smile and put on my seat belt.

Then he puts the car in drive and holds my hand and as we leave the snowy woods.


End file.
